We’re reading the Gospel of Matthew in our lectionary these days. Jesus calls his followers to a mountain in Galilee as a teacher and a healer. They are blessed who follow his way, he says in his Sermon on the Mount. Not only will they be blessed, but the world will be blessed. (Monday, Week 10)

“You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”  The world is better when we act his way; it’s filled with light and life. (Tuesday, Week 10) “Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

What does today’s world think of that teaching of Jesus? The moral system most popular in our society doesn’t respond very well to the Sermon on the Mount, I think. For many today moral thinking is built on personal choice. What’s good for me, what do I want, how can I get it, no matter what. Personal choice is the moral compass of many today. 

We’re influenced by this thinking more than we think. That’s why the psalm after today’s reading is important: “Lord, let your face shine on me…The revelation of your words sheds light, gives understanding to the simple…Steady my footsteps according to your promise.”(Psalm 119)

Yes, God helps those who help themselves. Yes, God gives us a mind to figure things out. Yes, we need to choose the way we see. But like the sun that rises each day, God is there as our Teacher and Guide. We need to ask God to “steady my footsteps according to your promise.”